Technical Field
The present technology relates generally to user privacy in a network-based ecosystem and more specifically systems and methods for using and varying an identifier value of a computing device associated with the user with respect to one or more entities in the network-based ecosystem.
Introduction
Online commerce is quickly becoming a ubiquitous part of the modern economy and there are many options for finding and buying goods and services online. Along the lines of this growth have been increased concerns for privacy and online anonymity. Like the more traditional markets, the online retail market benefits greatly from invitational content. Moreover, a much greater benefit is derived in an invitational media campaign when invitational content can be targeted to certain users who are more likely to be interested in the invitational content. Therefore, it is beneficial to pass some information about users to an invitational content provider in order allow the invitational content provider to target users. However, the practice of providing personal data that can serve to identify particular users apart from their simple demographic attributes is oftentimes socially, politically, and possibly legally unacceptable.
Some types of content requests are associated with an identifier value associated with a client device. In some cases, these identifier values are provided, along with other information, to invitational content providers. Further, this type of identifier value may also be used by third party developers to track the users of their software. Therefore, in a robust distribution system having many partners and having users who are very active in the ecosystem, the users' data may be widely spread out through the whole system. However, even though the data may be widely spread, as the amount of transactions grow, the amount of personal data that is associated with the identifier value can also grow to a point where it is conceivable that a third party could piece together the small amounts of personal data using the identifier value and compile a relatively complete picture of who the user might be.
Accordingly, the present technology addresses the need for allowing user to remain relatively anonymous by allowing users to manipulate an identifier value associated with the user's device.